Just My Point of View

I read an article a couple of days ago that gave me pause.  Facebook, the social website which boasts of over a billion (estimate) users world wide, was going to do a better job at blocking "hate-speech" from being posted on its website.   This stemmed from alleged derogatory remarks made toward women.  The article stated that many women's groups were quite upset with lack of Facebook's ability to keep this speech from reaching its website, and the company apologized from using outdated systems in order to catch this type of speech before it hit the world-wide web.  It also promised to do a better job and update its systems.

Now, some may think that I would view this as a good thing.  I mean - I don't like "hate speech" any more than the next lady or gentleman, and especially when I personally am offended by it.  However, it is possible that what I see as offensive may not be viewed the same way to another.  And granted, I'm sure that what was posted and ruffled the feathers of these women's groups, I would also find offensive; but here's the thing - and this is how I truly feel - blocking or removing offensive speech just because it is viewed by certain groups as offensive violates one of our most fundamental and basis beloved rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution.  If you forgot what it says, here it is: "Congress shall make no laws ... abridging the freedom of speech...." I purposely left out the remainder since they aren't really relevant to this matter.

Should the mega social network make it its duty to decide what is or isn't offensive, or what should or shouldn't be posted on its website? In my opinion, no, this should not be allowed.  Offensive speech indeed is just that - offensive. Offensive speech's purpose may anger or hurt the readers. But it's still speech, and it's still - from what I understand - defended by the First Amendment.

So why would I be defending offensive speech?  Because - if Facebook has the ability to deem certain speech as offensive due to certain groups not liking it, couldn't it, then, decide that other speech such as political speech, religious speech, or sexual preference speech is offensive and remove it from the website's page?  If it is allowed to block one, what else can it block?  Couldn't it block me from posting anything on its site?  Couldn't it then also block you?

Facebook founders opened themselves up for this kind of speech by opening this site for anyone and everyone to join its social network.  That includes the good and the bad.  Unfortunately, there are words and points of view that I don't agree, but I'm not going to go about demandiing that FB remove the writer from the site.  Why? because we all have the right to free speech.

The Supreme Court, when faced numerous times with the question of what was offensive speech decided that all speech - (except that which incites, or screaming "fire" in a crowded theater) - is Constitutionally protected, and cannot be infringed upon.  Justice Scalia, by far one of the most, if not
the most conservative justices always sides with free speech even when it offends him, like in the flag burning case.  As he said, the guy burning the flag could be the most dastard character, but his freedom of expression (another form of speech) could not be suppressed when he chose to demonstrate it by burning the American flag.  Again, in Hill v. Colorado (2000), a case narrowly related here,  Scalia said something in his dissent that struck me as most poignant here.  He said "[i]f protecting people from unwelcome communications... is a compelling state interest, the First Amendment is a dead letter." (citation omitted.)  Think about it. To protect one group Facebook will infringe on the rights of another?  Does that seem rather ironic?  Could Facebook be compelled in the future to remove the postings of the very same women's groups because someone or some group finds the woment's group's postings as offensive?

So what are we to do when we are offended by something said or written by another?  Well, I know what my actions are when I've been offended by something someone wrote or posted on Facebook. I either hide it, or I unfriend the person who made the statement or posted the offensive speech - and trust me, I've hidden plenty of sites!

It's amazing to me how much power we really do have by just deleting those messages ourselves, or unfriending those sites.  We don't have to be offended and demand it be removed.  We can be proactive and remove it from our page ourselves.  If enough people remove these offensive posts  from their personal sites, maybe then the offender will realize the post was not so fabulous and will remove the post him/herself.  Better that than to experience later that Facebook decides that my favorite daily posting by C.S. Lewis foundation, for instance, is offensive to another and removed from the site.  I might use that delete button on Facebook if it ever makes that move!  But that's just my point of view.